


Revelations

by RiTheBiGuy_RileyTMR



Category: The Good Doctor (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-21 11:28:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30021111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RiTheBiGuy_RileyTMR/pseuds/RiTheBiGuy_RileyTMR
Summary: Shaun and Lea have complications with Lea’s pregnancy, so when they are in danger of losing the baby there is one person who seems to be the obvious choice to operate. The only problem is that he has been dead for over a year. Or has he?
Relationships: Alex Park/Morgan Reznick, Claire Browne/Neil Melendez, Lea Dilallo/Shaun Murphy
Comments: 14
Kudos: 23





	1. The News

**Author's Note:**

> So this was inspired by a dream I had last night (You know you’re obsessed with The Good Doctor when you start dreaming about it 😂) so I hope you all like it!

“I’m afraid I have some bad news,” Shaun and Lea were sat in a small room with their midwife, Lea had been in for her regular scans to check the progress of their fetus when they were told that they needed to run some tests due to an abnormality. They sat their listening intently to what she had to say, “the scans show a tumour growing around the fetus,” tears started forming in Lea’s eyes and Shaun stared at the midwife.

”It can be fixed with surgery though,” he said simply.

“It can,” the midwife agreed, “but it is very risky, the chance of this baby surviving is low due to how early in the pregnancy you are and the risk to your health, Lea, is significant, the safest course of action would be to terminate the pregnancy.”

”No!” Shaun cut in, “we want this baby.”

”I understand that Dr Murphy but you know as well as I do that sometimes the risks to a surgery aren’t worth it,” she tried to calm him.

”No, you’re wrong, this is worth it,” he argued.

“Shaun,” Lea said grabbing his hand to calm him, he looked at her as a tear fell down her face and stopped arguing with the other woman, “can we have time to think about this?” She asked, the midwife nodded.

”Of course, I can give you some resources as well that will explain all your possible choices and also offers support with whatever you decide to do,” she told them, handing them some pamphlets.

”Thank you,” Lea replied, taking them from her, they both stood up and left the room, the tears started running down Lea’s face freely now and Shaun put a hand on her shoulder.

”It will be okay, Lea,” he said.

”You don’t know that Shaun,” she replied, shrugging his hand off of her, “I need to be alone now,” she walked away leaving the surgical resident standing in the hallway.

Dr Glassman walked into his office after a meeting and was shocked to see Shaun sitting there.

”Hey Shaun, everything alright?” He asked.

”No,” Shaun replied.

”Why what’s happened?” Shaun spent the next few minutes explaining the news they’d just got and Aaron listened intently. When he finished the older man looked down at him sadly.

”I don’t know what to do,” Shaun said, “I think Lea should do the surgery but I don’t know what she wants to do, she told me she wanted to be alone.”

”Well Shaun, it’s going to be difficult for her, more so than you, if she doesn’t go through with this surgery then she loses the baby, but if she does there’s a possibility that she could lose her life,” Aaron explained. Shaun looked up at him.

”No, she won’t lose her life, she will be fine,” he replied.

”She could though Shaun, you need to understand that, I know you don’t want her to but it’s a possibility, one that you need to realise.”

”I don’t want her to die,” Shaun said eventually, “but I don’t want to lose this baby either. What should I do?”

”I know you don’t, but this isn’t a decision that I can make for you, you need to talk to Lea about this,” Glassman replied.

”But she wants to be alone.”

”Nobody wants to be alone during this Shaun, she just doesn’t want you to keep insisting everything will be fine when they might not be, she needs you to be real with her,” Shaun listened intently to what the older surgeon was saying.

”Okay,” he replied before standing and leaving the office.

Claire walked into the restroom when she heard sobbing coming from the stall, she listened for a moment until she recognised who it was.

”Lea?” She asked as she walked over to the door, she heard the other woman sniffle before she spoke.

”Yeah,” she replied.

”Is everything alright?” Claire questioned, Lea didn’t answer straight away and Claire wasn’t sure that she was going to, until she heard the lock click and the door opened. She looked at the other woman who’s eyes were red from where she’d been crying.

”I may have to terminate the pregnancy or have a life threatening surgery due to a tumour,” she stated before bursting into tears again. Claire wrapped her arms around the other woman, trying to comfort her. She let her sob into her shoulder for a few minutes before speaking.

”How’s Shaun taking it?” She asked. Lea stepped back slightly and rubbed her eyes.

”He keeps insisting it’s going to be fine and that I should have the surgery,” she answered, “I just told him I needed some space, I’m guessing he’s gone to Glassy.”

”He’s going to struggle to take this all in at first, but at the end of the day what you feel is best is what you should do, he will understand that. You just need to be honest with him, let him know your fears and tell him that as much as you appreciate his attempts to support you, he needs to see the reality of the situation,” Claire told her, placing a hand on her arm, “you’re strong and you two will get through this, no matter what decision you make I, and everyone else, we’ll be here to support you both.”

”Thank you Claire,” Lea said, smiling at her slightly, Claire smiled back and gave her a quick hug before they both walked out of the room.

Back home, Shaun entered their apartment and saw Lea sitting in the couch. He went over and sat next to her.

”I love you,” he said to her, she smiled slightly.

”I love you too Shauny,” Shaun took her hand in his and spoke again.

”Whatever you want to do, I will support you,” he told her, “we should consider all options which is why I have arranged for us to talk with Dr Lim in the morning, she is the best surgeon in the hospital so if we do decide to go through with the surgery then she would be the best choice,” he looked over at Lea, “and if you decide you don’t want the surgery then she will talk to us about how to proceed,” Lea blinked back the tears in her eyes and leant her head on his shoulder.

”Thank you Shaun,” she said, “I’m scared,” she admitted.

”So am I,” he told her, “but I know it will be okay no matter what happens because I have you,” Lea squeezed his hand and they sat like that for a while, just supporting each other.

The next morning, Lea, Shaun and Audrey sat around the table in Dr Lim’s office, she spent roughly half an hour discussing their options with them in depth, the two listened closely, taking in every word she said. When she was finished and they headed to leave she spoke again.

”There is one more thing, I know an amazing surgeon who I believe could pull this off, I contacted him after you spoke to me yesterday and he is on a plane here as we speak, so if you do decide on the surgery then we will be able to do it soon,” she told them.

”Will you not be doing the surgery?” Shaun asked her.

”Trust me, you would prefer this guy,” she insisted, “he will be here later today, you can talk more with him then.”

That evening, Dr Glassman and Dr Lim came into the residents lounge where the residents and Lea were all all preparing to leave.

”We will need you all to stick around slightly longer,” Aaron told them. The group of people all looked at each other and Marcus came out of his office in curiosity.

”There is something we need to tell you all,” Audrey added, they all stood there waiting for the two to speak, “we have a surgeon who has just arrived that we believe could help Shaun and Lea, you all know who he is and you may be shocked when you see him.”

”Who is it?” Marcus asked, Audrey and Aaron looked at each other before they heard the door open behind them and somebody stepped in. The others in the room gasped audibly as they looked at the man standing in front of them. Nobody even spoke or moved as they took in the sight of the surgeon that had been bought in.

It was their dead mentor and colleague.

It was Dr Neil Melendez.


	2. The explanation

Everybody stared at the man in front of them. Nobody dared to move, it felt like reality would crumble if they did, they were in complete shock, thousands of thoughts rushed through their heads but they couldn’t piece together what they were, so they just stared.

Marcus was the first to break out of the trance they were all in. He slowly placed his bag down before dropping into a chair and running a hand down his face.

”Why?” He just asked. This seemed to help some of the others come to their senses, Shaun blinked and looked between the two men. Alex perched on the arm of the couch as he tried to take in what was happening. Lea grabbed Shaun’s hand, not knowing what else to do. Morgan took a few steps back, almost falling over the table behind her. Claire just stared.

”I had to pack up my life and move away,” Neil explained, “I’d been treating someone in a very high position, secretly, for a few years now. This person had made some enemies who’d attempted to kill him many times, each time I would fix him up. These people didn’t like that,” he looked around at the group as he spoke, “I began receiving death threats, they weren’t just aimed at me though, they began targeting my sister and other people I cared about deeply,” he looked at Claire as he said this, she just stared at him, unresponsive, “I’d noticed I was being followed,” he continued, “I kept having pictures sent to me of everyone I was close to as well, they’d been here, in this hospital, a few times,” he swallowed and looked down at the floor before watching the group in front of him again, “I’d gone to Dr’s Lim and Glassman about this, to make them aware of the situation, we were in the process of trying to come up with a plan when the earthquake hit and it hit us then what we had to do.”

”So you faked your death? So all the tests that were ran, the numbers, they were all just faked?” Marcus asked, Neil nodded, “and you just let us all believe for over a year that you were dead?”

“The less people that knew, the better,” Neil replied looking at the older man who’s shock had turned to anger.

”We all grieved for you, there was a funeral and everything,” Marcus said, Neil looked down at his feet.

”I’m sorry,” he muttered, Andrew’s stood up and headed back into his office, closing the door behind him, “I did what I had to do to protect you all,” Neil continued. Alex stood up and walked over to the attending. Everyone watched intently, unsure of what he was about to do, nobody expected it when he pulled the other man in for a hug. Neil patted the taller mans back as he pulled back. Alex looked at him, eyes slightly damp, before nodding slightly and heading out of the lounge. 

“I wasn’t expecting that,” Audrey said.

”Me neither,” Neil agreed, he looked at the rest of the group, Morgan was looking down at her now shaking hands, Shaun and Lea were sat next to each other, still slightly unsure as to how to react. Claire just continued to stare. Neil’s eyes met hers, unsure of what she was thinking, “I’m so sorry,” he said, this apology was only aimed at her though as his voice cracked slightly as he spoke. Claire swallowed hard and looked away from him as tears began to form in her eyes. Neil could feel his own tears starting up. Claire looked back at him, before picking up her bag and walking straight past him. He watched as she left the room and one of the tears that threatened to fall did so.

”I’m glad you’re back,” he heard Shaun say behind him, he wipe his face before turning back around.

”Thank you Shaun,” he said, smiling at the younger man.

”Things were different without you,” he told him and Neil smiled sadly.

”I need some air,” Morgan suddenly said, standing up and racing out to the balcony.

”I’ll go see if she’s alright,” Aaron told the group, following her out there.

“I’ll talk to Marcus,” Audrey said, Neil nodded, “I would check on Claire but I think the best thing we can do for her right now is give her space. The people who were left in the room all agreed.

Neil wasn’t sure what to expect when he came back, he knew that people would be upset, angry, confused and he hoped that eventually they’d forgive him.

He especially hoped Claire would.

He needed her to.


	3. The Talk

Neil had been back at the hospital for two weeks now. It had been a rough two weeks as well. He kept getting stared at in the hallways, some people had just been happy that he wasn’t actually dead, some understood why he did what he did and others felt betrayed that he had let them think he was dead for so long. 

“Here’s the file for the patient in room 104,” nurse Petringa said as she threw the file onto the nurses station and went to walk away. She was definitely the latter.

”Thank you,” Neil replied to her retreating back, “and I’m sorry for what I did,” the nurse stopped walking but didn’t turn around, “I hope one day you can forgive me. I understand why you’re mad at me, and you have every right to be, but the other nurses all look up to you and I’m not going anywhere so I need to have the nurses cooperating with me, I can’t do that if you’re all going to keep trying to avoid me.”

”For a doctor, you really are stupid,” she said before turning around and walking back towards him, “we’re all so pleased that you’re not actually dead Dr Melendez, despite how arrogant you used to be you actually became a really nice person and all of the nurses liked to work with you.”

”Then why are you all giving me the cold shoulder?” He asked.

”Because we were all there to watch Dr Browne fall apart after you were gone. We could all tell before you left that there was something going on and to then watch as she realised you were going to die and then see the aftermath, the countless times we pretended that we didn’t see her crying in a storage closets, or hear her sobbing in the bathrooms. She used to just go and stand in your office or on the balcony, she’d stare at your empty desk or look at the railing where you would go after a rough day,” Neil was shocked as he listened to this, “she was finally starting to become the Dr Browne that she was before and you showed up again and completely threw a wrench in it.”

”I-“ he started to speak but wasn’t sure what to say.

”She is a good person and everyone in this hospital cares about her, you’ve hurt her and you haven’t even tried to fix that in the whole time you’ve been back,” Petringa told him.

”I’ve been trying to give her space,” Neil said quietly.

”Space! She doesn’t need space Neil!” Pertringa retorted shocking the younger man at her use of his first name, “she loves you, has done for a while and I am positive you love her too, so go make this right with her,” the nurse walked off leaving Neil standing there, thinking about what she’d said.

”Your surgery will be first thing in the morning, do you have any questions?” Neil asked Lea as she laid in a hospital bed with Shaun standing next to her holding her hand. They had agreed to the surgery after taking some time to think about it.

”Who will be in the OR?” Shaun asked.

”Dr Reznick and I, as well as nurses Petringa and Villanueva, Jen the anaesthesiologist-“ Neil started to list.

”Will Dr Browne be there?” Shaun cut in.

”No Shaun,” he replied.

”But she’s our friend, I want her to be there too,” Shaun argued.

”She refuses to work with Dr Melendez,” Morgan said and Neil looked at her in shock, “oh please, you haven’t noticed?”

”You should apologise to her,” Shaun stated.

”I’ll talk to her and see if she’ll join the team,” Neil replied before he and Morgan left the room, “Claire’s really refusing to work with me?” He asked the younger woman.

”Not technically but Lim knows better than to put her on your service right now,” Morgan replied, “you really going to talk to her?”

”Yes,” Neil said.

”Good luck,” Morgan walked away and Neil breathed out heavily.

”Claire!” Neil called out to the young woman when he saw her in the ICU, she just kept walking, “Claire please!” he sped up so he was walking next to her, “please can we talk?”

”Oh so now you want to talk?” She said harshly as she stopped and looked at him.

”I’m sorry, I should’ve spoken to you sooner,” he told her and she just looked at him, “I didn’t know what to say to you and you’ve been avoiding me for the last two weeks.”

”And you completely avoided everyone for an entire year whilst pretending to be dead so I guess we’re even,” he felt an ache in his chest when she said this.

”I did that to protect the people I love,” he argued, “they were threatening the people I work with, my sister,” he sighed, “Claire they were threatening you.”

”So you just left us all? Neil you could have told us what was going on, we would have tried to help you,” she started to walk away.

”You know it wasn’t as simple as that,” he said. Claire turned back towards him.

“Maybe it wasn’t but you could’ve told me!” She replied loudly, causing the people on the floor to turn and watch them, “I believed you were dead and this whole time you wasn’t and suddenly you return and act as though nothing has happened! You showed up at the hospital without any warning, not even a phone call to say ‘hey Claire by the way I’m alive and you can stop feeling like there’s a hole in your chest that will never be filled!’” Neil swallowed hard as he felt tears come to his eyes. 

“I couldn’t Claire, and I am so sorry for that,” he said.

”Well sorry doesn’t change anything,” she replied quietly, turning to leave.

”Claire,” he called out and she paused, “Shaun and Lea asked if you could assist in Lea’s surgery tomorrow, I understand if you’d rather not, I just-“

”I’ll be there,” she cut in before leaving him to deal with the stares that they’d gained. He sighed and looked down at his shoes, turning to head back to his office where he was planning to spend as much time as he could away from everyone else.


End file.
